Balancé
by kdinthecity
Summary: Sokka and Suki try to find balance through the ups and downs of moving to a new city, their back-and-forth bickering, and the question of whether they should take the next step—or leap—in their relationship. A modern day ballet AU inspired by prompts from the Pro-Bending Competition
1. The Sickling

For Toza's Gym: Earth Disks (Ramen)  
Word Count: 312  
 **A/N:** This is a continuation of our team's story for round one of the Pro-Bending Competition (link in profile). Because I couldn't resist doing a modern Sukka ballet AU! Chapter titles are ballet references btw.

* * *

Sokka was late to his second ballet practice. Suki should have known it would be a short-lived thing. She ignored the flutter of excitement in her stomach at the sight of him in tights and glowered at her boyfriend. "And where have _you_ been?"

Concern replaced her anger when she saw him keel over. Sokka dry heaved, then sat down on one of the benches that flanked the studio door. Suki rushed to him and instinctively placed a hand on his forehead. He felt fine, just…

She sashayed out of the way just in time, grateful that he didn't hurl on her pointe shoes. She glanced around the room for a towel, ignoring the glares coming from her instructor and classmates.

Sokka groaned. "I'm so sorry, Suki. This was supposed to be… perfect." He gestured toward a gift bag he had placed on the floor.

"You don't have to buy me something every time. We already made up, remember?" she scolded.

His answer came in the form of a blank stare.

"Sokka, go home. Should I call you a cab?"

"Noooooooooo, it was the cab that made me feel this way! Crazy driver!" he protested while holding a hand over his stomach. "Either that or I had some really bad ramen for lunch."

"You really shouldn't—" Suki knew they were disrupting class, so instead of continuing her rant, she rushed off to the bathroom to get paper towels. It wasn't the first time she'd cleaned up after him, and it likely wouldn't be the last.

When she came back, Sokka was stretched out on the bench, fast asleep. The jetlag from his two-day Ba Sing Se trip had finally caught up to him.

The instructor loudly cleared her throat, but before Suki rejoined the group, she peeked inside the bag Sokka had brought.

She let out a squeal of delight.


	2. The Turnout

For Toza's Gym: Earth Disks (Chocolate)  
Word Count: 354

* * *

The smell of chocolate filled the studio as a half a dozen dancers indulged on a little post-practice snack. Suki felt it was only fair to share after they had to endure Sokka's little scene. A few declined her offer, though, claiming they had their delicate figures to maintain.

Sokka was still asleep on the bench… snoring. Maybe she should call Korra to pick them up instead of taking the bus or a cab. They weren't on the best of terms at the moment, but Suki _did_ apologize for the hurtful things she said to her friend. It could be bad for Sokka to toss his cookies in her car, though.

"Hey, do you guys need a ride?" Song asked.

Suki hadn't been attending class here for very long, but Song was the first to reach out to her.

Suki bit her lip. "Well, I'm not sure if he's gonna…"

"Don't worry about it. I'm in nursing school, so I've seen it all," Song said.

It was near impossible to wake Sokka up, though.

"No, Foo Foo, I will NOT feed you to the lion vultures," Sokka mumbled when he finally sat upright and wiped the drool from his chin.

Suki scrunched up her nose, deciding against a thank you kiss for the chocolate.

Sokka eyed the empty bag and pouted. "What? You didn't save any for me?"

"You're sick, barfboy, so no. No, I didn't."

"It was just some bad ramen!" he whined.

"You didn't eat at Cabbage Café, did you?" Song's brow knitted in concern.

"On the corner of 19th and Mulberry? Yeah. Why?"

"Oh, ever since it got new management, it's been no good," she explained. "But I see you found the best chocolatier in New York."

"Yeah, yeah, some guy at the airport recommended it." Sokka waved his hand dismissively. "Named Chit Sang, looked like he'd had too much chocolate himself. Seriously, it should be a crime to eat that much chocolate. Or charge that much for it!"

Song laughed. "OK, well, let's get you foodies home, then."

Suki mouthed _thank you_ while hooking her elbow with Sokka's. He could be such a dork sometimes. But he was _her_ dork, and she loved him all the same.


	3. Do You Fondu?

For Toza's Gym: Earth Disks (Cheese)  
Word Count: 398

* * *

The next day, Sokka was feeling much better, and there was no ballet practice, so he picked a special place for dinner. Food was much more in his comfort zone than dancing, anyway.

"Oooh, I love fondue!" Suki said as their server led them to their table. He knew she would. After dating for a few years now, he knew a lot of things about her.

"Cheese or chocolate?" she asked with a cute quirk to her brow.

Hmm, maybe she didn't know him all that well. "Meat," he replied.

"Right, of course. Can we get cheese, too? I just really love licking it off the skewer, all thick and creamy…" She ran her tongue across her lip seductively.

Sokka cleared his throat and shifted in his seat since his pants felt tighter all of the sudden. "You're a dork."

"Then you're dating a dork."

"Takes one to know one."

"You're going to tease me like that when we're about to receive a pot of hot oil and sharp metal sticks? You live dangerously, cheese whiz." Suki playfully hit him with her cloth napkin.

It felt good to have this back—to have _her_ back, like _this_. "Don't tell me you are comparing Swiss fondue to cheese whiz. Come on, Suki, I thought you were more sophisticated than that."

"OK, _fine_ , cheese jizz," she countered.

He coughed to cover up a laugh. " _Sophisticated_ , Suki. This is not the Cabbage Café, you know."

"OK then," she refolded her napkin and placed it in her lap. "Speaking of sophisticated, did you know fondu is a ballet move?"

Just then, their server brought the marinated meat and oil, so Sokka started to eat instead of answering. His knowledge of ballet was more limited than he wanted to admit.

"It technically means 'sinking down,'" she continued before procuring her own bite of food.

"I thought we were done with the innuendos," Sokka said while chewing.

Suki raised her eyebrows at his display of poor table manners in such a fine dining establishment. "And you called me unsophisticated?"

Sokka swallowed and breathed a sigh of relief. He was assured they were done with the real fighting since they were back to their usual playful banter. "No, I don't know about the ballet move," he said with a smirk. "But I can't wait to fondu you."


	4. Effacé

For Toza's Gym: Earth Disks (Family)  
Word Count: 421  
 **A/N:** Rated almost-M

* * *

The next morning, Sokka lay in bed in a stupor of satisfaction. He couldn't complain. He'd had a great date night with Suki, a shit-ton of meat for dinner, and some epic make-up sex for dessert. They even went for another round upon waking up which rarely happens because Suki always has some excuse—too tired, ballet practice, or whatever. And right now? She's out buying coffee and donuts for breakfast in bed!

Sokka did _something_ right, he knew that much.

Yup, he was feeling pretty damn good... until Katara started banging on the bedroom door.

"Sokka, put some clothes on, you big idiot and answer the door!" she yelled.

"Alright already, hold your ostrich horses!" _Ugh, sisters._

He could have predicted the sight that would greet him—an angry waterbender standing there with disheveled hair and her hand propped on her hip.

"What gives, sis?" he whined. "Can't a man get his beauty rest around here?"

"NOBODY could sleep around here last night with all the noise you and Suki were making!" she barked.

 _Oh._

Were they really that loud? Spirits, it was amazing, though. Sokka was aroused all over again just thinking about it.

"Sokka!"

Right. Sister at twelve-o'clock. "What!?"

"Eww, it's just that—" She grimaced and ran a hand across her face. "We're family."

Suki had been shrieking quite a bit, and Sokka would _not_ like to hear such noises coming out of Katara in the night. He could never look at Aang the same again. Sucks to be sharing an apartment, really. But everything was so expensive in New York.

"I know," he said finally. "And I'm grateful to have family here in the city we can crash with for a while until we get on our feet. We'll be quieter next time. I promise."

And he promised himself that as soon as he saved enough money from his new engineering job, he'd start looking for their own place.

Everything about Katara softened just then—her gaze, her stance, her next words. "You're right, Sokka. We're family," she repeated. "And we gotta take care of each other."

"Which means I shouldn't gross you out with what I do with my girlfriend," Sokka conceded.

Katara nodded and turned to walk down the hall. She stopped in front of her room and called back over her shoulder, "I'm glad you worked things out with Suki. I think of her as family, too."


End file.
